Azerbaijan's Tartar and Aghdam districts come under artillery fire

BAKU, Nov 6 -- Districts of Tartar and Aghdam in western Azerbaijan were shelled by the units of Armenian armed forces Thursday, Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC) reported quoting the country's Ministry of Defence.

“Starting from 2.40 pm on Nov 5, the units of Armenian armed forces are shelling the city of Tartar, Sahlaabad village of Tartar district, as well as Hajituralli and Afatli villages of Aghdam district,” the ministry said.

“Units of Azerbaijan Army are taking retaliatory actions against enemy's firing points,” the ministry added.

Meanwhile, Anadolu Agency reported that Azerbaijan on Thursday defused a Smerch missile fired by Armenia’s military, which landed in the Tartar city but did not explode.

In a statement, Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry said the country’s military also destroyed “the headquarters of the 7th mountain rifle regiment of the 10th mountain rifle division of the Armenian army in the village of Tonashen, barracks, vehicles loaded with ammunition and other military infrastructure.” 

The renewed intense military clashes that began on Sept 27 had resulted in the loss of lives, including civilians on both sides. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia have blamed each other for starting the fighting.

To date, at least 92 civilians have lost their lives, including 11 children and infants, and over 400 people, with at least 36 children among them, have been injured in attacks by Armenian forces, according to Azerbaijan's Chief Prosecutor's Office.

Some 2,971 homes and 100 multi-apartment residential buildings have been destroyed, while 502 civilian facilities have been damaged.

Background:

The protracted bitter conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia started in 1988 – three years before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. In 1992, a full-scale war broke out between the two former Soviet states until a ceasefire signed in May 1994. In 1991, the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence but the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) is not recognised by any country in the world.

 The mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts which constitute about 20 per cent of Azerbaijan's territory are internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but is under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia.

In the past, the United Nations Security Council had adopted four resolutions, among others calling for the withdrawal of all occupying forces from the areas of Azerbaijan. The OSCE Minsk Group – co-chaired by France, Russia, and the US – was formed in 1992 to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, but to no avail.

-- BERNAMA